Manchester City have an impossible job this summer, which is to replace Kevin De Bruyne.
De Bruyne left Manchester City fans gutted last week, as he announced that he’ll be leaving the club this summer when his contract expires.
After much speculation, he has decided to call time on his Manchester City career and seek a new challenge.
It remains to be seen where he’ll go, but De Bruyne is a target for Neom SC in Saudi Arabia, and has interest from a few other clubs at the moment.
De Bruyne has been a revelation for City since he arrived at the Etihad back in 2016 from Wolfsburg.
He quickly established himself as a top playmaker for City, and has made countless contributions to the club’s success over the last nine years.
He will leave the club as a legend, and also one of the greatest players ever to play in the Premier League.
The club now have to try and replace him, and one player City are thought to admire is Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest – and fans have now been giving their opinions.
Man City fans unconvinced by Morgan Gibbs-White amid new transfer claim
David Ornstein has reported City are considering Gibbs-White to replace De Bruyne this summer.
Another target the club are looking at is Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen, who’s been on City’s radar for a while now.
Gibbs-White has shone for Forest since joining them from Wolves in 2022, and has helped the team make an unlikely push for the Champions League this season.
But some City fans just aren’t convinced he’s the player the club should be going for this summer.
@brotherlexis insisted: “He’s an average player.”
@Dan10_1 said: “Give me Wirtz or just wait for another season.”
@mcfcbwoy said: “I’m telling you if he comes here he will flop 100%.”
@AbsoluteRhy added: “Another Kalvin Phillips.”
What Pep Guardiola has said about Morgan Gibbs-White
Plenty of City fans are not keen to see the club move for Gibbs-White this summer, but some did suggest he could be a decent addition.
But he is a player Guardiola likes, with the City boss previously branding him ‘exceptional’ (via mancity.com).
Gibbs-White doesn’t have earth-shattering stats at Forest in terms of goals and assists. So far, he has 16 goals and 27 assists in 110 games for the Reds.
But as per fbref data, this season he’s still managed to record a shot-creating actions per 90 metric of 3.93. He also lands in the 85th percentile for progressive passes per 90 over the last 365 days for players in his position, with 5.65.
What’s more, Gibbs-White actually does a good job out of possession, placing in the 89th percentile for interceptions per 90 for players in his position (0.72 per match).
